26 - Smashing the Patriarchy, One Post at a Time with Jeremy Stockdale

Update: 2025-04-12

Description

Episode 26 - Smashing the Patriarchy, One Post at a Time with Jeremy Stockdale

Jeremy is the CEO and founder of Ylead, a leadership consultancy launched in 2020 to champion a more data-driven and human-led approach to developing leaders with purpose. Drawing on over two decades of experience in the banking industry, Jeremy brings a wealth of expertise from leading large, diverse, and multi-functional teams across the UK and Africa.

Jeremy began his career at Barclays, working in branch roles before quickly progressing into strategic, operational, and customer-facing leadership positions. After earning his MBA with Distinction, he stepped into more senior leadership roles, including Chief Operating Officer and Global Head of Servicing & Support.

His move from corporate leadership to entrepreneurship was driven by a desire to create lasting cultural change. Through Ylead, Jeremy works with organisations around the world to cultivate inclusive leadership, gender unity, and equity through a lens of curiosity, compassion, and continuous learning.

Jeremy is also a passionate advocate for gender equity. He is well known for his “On Wednesdays We Smash the Patriarchy” LinkedIn series, which explores the real-world impact of gender inequality on women and men alike. His posts spark vital conversations and challenge traditional thinking-offering insights drawn from both personal reflection and ongoing learning.

An engaging and candid speaker, Jeremy is regularly invited to deliver keynote talks, facilitate leadership development programmes, and consult on inclusive workplace cultures.

Outside of work, Jeremy describes himself as an “enthusiastic armchair sportsman,” a slow but determined runner, and a lifelong Chelsea fan. He’s also a proud and dedicated father to Phoebe and Toby, whose insights and lived experiences continue to inspire much of his writing and advocacy work.

Jeremy’s mission is simple but profound: to help leaders see differently, lead courageously, and create cultures where everyone-regardless of gender-can thrive.

What we talk about

01:35 – Meeting Jeremy: LinkedIn connection, smashing patriarchy, and the T-shirt story.
02:11 – The backstory behind the “On Wednesdays We Smash the Patriarchy” series.

04:23 – Being more provocative and stepping into discomfort.
05:55 – The gendered nature of online backlash: men vs. women.
07:48 – Fear of complaints and the mental load of posting as a woman.
10:06 – Critical thinking and the art of disagreement.

14:55 – Tone-policing, corporate leadership, and gendered feedback.
17:25 – The fish and water analogy: men not seeing the patriarchy.
20:42 – Discussing the Netflix series “Adolescence”: trauma, gender, and critical responses.
24:44 – Jeremy’s turning point: reading Invisible Women and Everyday Sexism.
25:27 – Book recommendations and reading women’s voices.
26:22 – Learning from mistakes and navigating allyship with humility.
28:06 – Structural change and the long game: what would it take to fix the police and education?